MAG Mushroom at Home?

[lilmisssunshine]

I've been keeping an eye out for used mushrooms and now that I see one, I'm wondering whether it's worth it or not. It seems that mushroom circles are one of the hardest skills to pick up and that it's practice that's going to get him there. They spend a lot of time at practice working on mushroom, though, and he'll soon be going 3x/week for 3 hours each time. So I guess I'm wondering if having the mushroom at home too would be overkill.
And if you did get one for your home, how long does it take until it's not really a necessary thing anymore?

 

[skschlag]

Yes. We had one and it was great. It really helped D get his circles and get the skills he needed.

 

[sce]

We never had one, but a lot pf boys do. Ask your ds if he thinks it would be fun to have at home. Let him know that there will be no pressure from you to use it.

 

[profmom]

It is the one piece of home equipment that most people will wholeheartedly recommend. (With the caveat that you shouldn't be assigning your son homework on it!)

 

[ZJsMom]

I think that's true--that most people think it's a good idea. My DS's coach recommends it. My DS still has his, but he has totally outgrown it. I've been meaning to sell ours.

The funny thing about it, in talking to other parents, I came to realize that the kids who were good at circles used it a lot, while the ones who needed the practice the most were less interested. I guess my DS fell in the middle, he used it a moderate amount and his circles were decent in the compulsory levels. I really don't remember how long it took him to master them though.

 

[OwlGalLiz]

We purchased ours when little guy was on pre-team. There are 3 boys who do gymnastics on our street and it gets plenty of use. Coach gave little guy some assignments to practice at home and he enjoys it. He even showed off his skills at the school talent show.

 

[curlymop]

It was very helpful in the beginning, but back then he was only practicing 4 hours a week, so it seemed they barely had any time on each event. Before we got the mushroom, he could not even complete one circle. Within a week, he was doing one circle, and I think it took a couple of months after that to connect that to another half a circle. After that he progressed fairly quickly to adding more circles. This was with very occasional use. It's possible that the progression would have happened anyway, but it did seem at the time that having one at home helped him over the hump of figuring out the timing of the circle.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Yep. Mushroom is great. My ds training for level8 still uses it. Very, very helpful. My dd can even do circles!!!

 

[lilmisssunshine]

Thanks everyone! DS has always had a strong interest in mushroom/pommel horse stuff. When we did our gymnastics trial lesson, he saw an older boy doing the pommel horse with crazy kicking legs (flares?) and when they had "free choice" time, he asked to do that and the coaches set him up with the bucket. The fact that the coaches set that up for him rather than poo-pooing him and telling him that was something for older kids is probably the biggest factor for me encouraging my son in gymnastics and switching to that from parkour (I as starting to hate the parkour place anyway...). I really think he'll get use out of it, but ugh....this gymnastics stuff is so expensive. At least I've heard that the mushrooms have good resale (and I would only buy used). He's on pre-team now and I know that none of the boys on pre-team can really do a good circle on it yet. I think he'd do really well if he could practice at home.

 

[sraikh]

We made one for my ds. He used it a lot and mastered the 3.5 circles.
I had uploaded a video here if you search for it.
Good luck!

 

[homer]

Yes i would recommend it. Ours had a lot of use in the early days when mastering circles.....less so now, but like you say they have good resale value!

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

I would recommend it for sure! My son plays around on his all the time. As long as you don't make him use it he will and it can really be beneficial! We made our own mushroom.

 

[lilmisssunshine]

I've got a mushroom sitting in my living room now. Already got a bit of use, so I'm feeling pretty happy about it.

 

[sce]

I've got a mushroom sitting in my living room now. Already got a bit of use, so I'm feeling pretty happy about it.

Fun!

 

[skschlag]

Enjoy! we used to consider that our coffee table D used his all the time....I am sure your son will love it.

I even tried to use it a couple of times. There was NO way

 

[curlymop]

Enjoy! we used to consider that our coffee table D used his all the time....I am sure your son will love it.

I even tried to use it a couple of times. There was NO way

They make it look so easy. It's NOT.

 

[txgymfan]

They make it look so easy. It's NOT.

Easy? It LOOKS impossible. Seeing the boys struggle with it at gym I wonder how anyone ever figured that thing out.

 

[lilmisssunshine]

I even tried to use it a couple of times. There was NO way

Hahaha. Awhile back we saw this video about holding positions around the mushroom to build up the muscles, and I was trying to show my son the positions and he was trying hard not to laugh at me even doing that.

 

[profmom]

I've got a mushroom sitting in my living room now. Already got a bit of use, so I'm feeling pretty happy about it.

Eventually you'll get tired of it and move it somewhere else in the house. Then one happy day, your son will disappear and you'll start hearing ka THUNK ka THUNK ka THUNK ka THUNK ka THUNK until you think your head's going to explode.

We have gotten good use out of our home equipment. My son worked up to a pretty decent cartwheel on the low beam, and DD is up to two circles. DS also invented a release move on mushroom to go along with his entire L9 mushroom routine. Hours of fun, I tell you!

 

[curlymop]

Easy? It LOOKS impossible. Seeing the boys struggle with it at gym I wonder how anyone ever figured that thing out.

In the beginning, I thought the whole thing was some sort of practical joke, because who could ever learn to do something that impossible? But then he started connecting more and more circles, and suddenly it seemed like just getting around the thing was no longer the hard part. Then I tried it. Yep, still hard.